Carroll Kendrick (December 29, 1815 – October 2, 1891) was a clergy member within the Restoration Movement, a Christian movement that began in the early 19th century, led by Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell. Kendrick was a physician as well as a minister, editor, and publisher in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).Lawrence W. Scott, ed., Texas Pulpit by Christian Preachers (St. Louis: Christian, 1888), pp. 393-94R. L. Roberts, “Kendrick, Carroll,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 11, 2025, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/kendrick-carroll.Richard T. Hughes, The Churches of Christ (Greenwood, Santa Barbara, 2001), pp. 214, 242, 265David Edwin Harrell, Quest for a Christian America, 1800–1865: A Social History of the Disciples of Christ, (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2003 ), vol. 1, pp. 69, 73, 151
Early life and education Carroll Kendrick was born on December 29, 1815, in Maury County, Tennessee. He lived in Alabama, Kentucky, and Texas before moving to California. His brother was fellow Christian Church minister Allen Kendrick. His parents were Jesse Kendrick and Mary Jane Parker Kendrick. His parents were divorced in Tippah County, Mississippi in 1841.Holly Springs Gazette, October 28, 1841, Page 4. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/holly-springs-gazette/54815803/ : accessed May 24, 2025), clip page by user jshays86 His father Jesse Kendrick moved to Miller County, Missouri.History of Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Benton, Miller, Maries, and Osage Counties, Missouri (Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889), pp. 533, 534, 537 His mother was a sister of Daniel Parker, noted predestinarian Baptist minister. His grandfather was John Parker, who was killed in the Fort Parker massacre. His nephew and namesake was politician Carroll Kendrick.Claudine M. Dollar, The Gardner Family-Allied Families: Kendrick, Parker, Forgy and Gage (Blair, Oklahoma: Pioneer, 1983), pp. 263-269, 343 Kendrick married Mary Wade Forbes near Stanford, Kentucky, on October 15, 1840.Julian Carroll Kendrick, "The Life Of Carroll Kendrick," Octographic Review, also Gospel Advocate, 10 December 1891, p. 779. They had nine children. Kendrick was educated at Bacon College (now Transylvania University), Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and received an honorary M.A. from Franklin College.R. L. Roberts, “Kendrick, Carroll,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 11, 2025, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/kendrick-carroll
He moved to Texas in 1851 as a missionary and supported his family by farming, practicing medicine, and preaching. Kendrick was a prominent revivalist and was largely responsible for beginning the practice of holding camp meetings for Christian churches in Texas; he conducted meetings through East Texas and on the Western frontier. He lived at Palestine, Salado, Bryan, and Bastrop. He moved to Oakland, California in 1874, before moving to Southern California in 1879.E. B. Ware, History of the Disciples of Christ in California (Healdsburg, California, 1916), pp. 188-189
Writing, publishing, and editing Kendrick wrote for many Christian periodicals, including the Millennial Harbinger, the Gospel Advocate, the Ecclesiastic Reformer, and the Christian Philanthropist. With his brother, Allen Kendrick, he was founding publisher and editor of the Christian Journal (1845-1846) the Ecclesiastic Reformer in Kentucky before he moved to Texas.Douglas A. Foster, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), p. 289Claudine M. Dollar, The Gardner Family-Allied Families: Kendrick, Parker, Forgy and Gage (Blair, Oklahoma: Pioneer, 1983), p. 239 He became the first Christian Church publisher of a religious periodical in Texas in 1855 when he published the Christian Philanthropist, which merged with the Tennessee Gospel Advocate in September 1856. The Philanthropist was reissued for several months beginning in August 1866 but was again merged with the Advocate, and Kendrick conducted the Texas department. He wrote a volume called Live Religious Issues of the Day: Rules and Principles for Bible Study (1890). Part of this work was reprinted as Rules for Bible Study in 1946.Claude E. Spencer, Periodicals of the Disciples of Christ and Related Groups (Canton, Mo .: Disciples of Christ Historical Society, 1943), pp. 33, 36, 61, 112
Death Carroll Kendrick died at the age of 75 on October 2, 1891 at Downey City, California."Obituary", Gospel Advocate, Vol. 33 No. 41, p. 648, October 14, 1891 He was buried near central Los Angeles, California in Evergreen Cemetery.Scott Harp, "Dr. Carroll Kendrick 1815-1891," History of the Restoration Movement, https://www.therestorationmovement.com/_states/california/kendrick,c.htm
References
Further reading Dollar, Claudine M., The Gardner Family-Allied Families: Kendrick, Parker, Forgy and Gage (Blair, Oklahoma: Pioneer, 1983). Foster, Douglas, et al., The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005. Harp, Scott, "Dr. Carroll Kendrick 1815-1891," History of the Restoration Movement, History of the Restoration Movement Harrell, David Edwin, Quest for a Christian America, 1800–1865: A Social History of the Disciples of Christ, 2 vols. (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2003 ). Hughes, Richard T., The Churches of Christ (Greenwood, Santa Barbara, 2001). Kendrick, Julian Carroll, "The History of the Kendrick Family" (1960). Stone-Campbell Books. 339. The History of the Kendrick Family. Kendrick, Julian Carroll, "The Life Of Carroll Kendrick," Octographic Review, also Gospel Advocate, 10 December 1891. Roberts, R. L., “Church of Christ,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 11, 2025, History of the Church of Christ in Texas. Roberts, R. L., “Kendrick, Carroll,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 11, 2025, Carroll Kendrick: Influential Camp-Meeting Revivalist and Journalist. Scott, Lawrence W., ed., Texas Pulpit by Christian Preachers (St. Louis: Christian, 1888). Spencer, Claude E., Periodicals of the Disciples of Christ and Related Groups (Canton, Mo .: Disciples of Christ Historical Society, 1943). Ware, E. B., History of the Disciples of Christ in California (Healdsburg, California, 1916).